November 15, 2024
To the ISSUE Project Room community -
It’s come to my attention that there is an “Open Letter” in circulation that accuses ISSUE of silencing artists who express outrage at the genocide in Gaza and solidarity with the Palestinian people. These accusations stem from a handful of individuals.
To those who claim we are censoring activism, the facts speak for themselves. I can identify at least seven events since last October (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) where artists have expressed support for Palestine, through their performances as well as their engagement with the audience, spoken and written context for their work, visuals, staging, and clothing. These artists were not censored in any way; quite the contrary, ISSUE has been proud to support their right to free speech. The staff and board of ISSUE are fervently opposed to censorship; artists regularly integrate political speech into their practice at ISSUE and have since our founding in 2003.
As much as I am dismayed by the mischaracterization of our staff as complicit in censorship, I am especially saddened by the attacks against Zev Greenfield, our executive director, the specifics of which accuse him without evidence of racism. These characterizations of his role in the organization - as well as other attacks on his character beyond the letter in recent months - cross the line into antisemitism, and I condemn them, as I denounce any aspersions cast on our staff, all of whom are working tirelessly to help artists make and present work. I hope that our community is better than this. Attacks such as these read as intolerance and can easily lead to violence.
One of the assertions in the letter states we have avoided engagement and dialogue. My experience has been quite different. I’ve had very productive conversations with people who care deeply about the strategic goals of Palestinian liberation and the tactical goals of promoting this within the arts community in the United States. In January, I wrote a response to Evil Dentist’s earlier attempts to condemn our organization, in which I outlined some of the ways in which we were applying these goals at ISSUE and invited them to speak with me. This letter was sent to our past and present curatorial fellows, as well as the staff and board of the organization. I never received a response.
With respect to the specific demands of the letter being circulated, I can offer the following:
As the UN Special Committee report released yesterday states, the actions of the State of Israel against the Palestinian people are consistent with genocide, with 70% of the verified dead confirmed to be women and children. At this juncture, those who justify Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the widening war in Lebanon as mere acts of self- defense or hostage rescue are complicit. ISSUE Project Room supports the goals of a ceasefire and arms embargo, and we have no institutional cooperation with Israel or funding from their government or government-funded institutions.
We also condemn the US government’s myriad actions - and failures to take action - that have given Israel a free hand and a blank check with which to kill civilians with impunity; we are especially concerned with attempts by local, state and federal lawmakers to weaponize laws surrounding labor discrimination, civil rights, and non-profit political neutrality to suppress public statements and actions of advocacy, aid, and support for Palestinians.
As a presenting organization for experimental artists, we will not exclude artists based on the simple fact of their nationality. It is against both the law and our values. We support the belief that individual artists should not be held responsible for the policies of their government, and we reiterate our position that we do not sign on to cultural boycotts or take action that preempts dialogue among our community stakeholders. We expect that many of our US artists would not want to be held responsible for the actions of the United States government; we must return that courtesy and respect to artists of other nationalities.
ISSUE’s sources of funding are transparent and public and can be found here. We are diligent in keeping this page current to give credit to our sponsors, and other than individual members and ticket holders, that’s all the support we have. Our IRS 990 forms are in the public record and can be accessed in a number of ways (e.g. here, via ProPublica).
As discussed above, I reject any notion that we have censored or harassed members of our community for expressing their beliefs.
As to the final demand, I cite my unanswered letter of the 17th of January:
We are deeply invested in the success of our Palestinian, Arab, and SWANA artists and curators and will continue to unreservedly support and highlight their artistic practices as well as broaden our connections to those creative communities, including in their diaspora in the United States. Those artists - and others working from a space of genuine affinity and solidarity with them - create work that engages in the ways in which current events - including topics of violence, cultural erasure, and genocide - impact them and their communities. We feel that providing a safe and open platform for this work in our core programming is far more impactful than issuing a statement. ISSUE will continue to do so, and to promote and support their careers as members of our family.
I am happy to discuss any of this with anyone who is interested. With regards.
